Carnival of Souls
by ShadowAmaris
Summary: When a dark plot simmers just underneath the surface of peace in the Makai, threatening the three realms, the Reikai Tantei is called upon once again, to defeat this evil. Working alongside them is a temperamental she-demon who most values her independence; so what will happen when the threads of fate start to tangle around her and the sly fox demon Kurama? KuramaxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Well hello everyone, and welcome to the first chapter of my new story! Hopefully it will progress further than my other one, Snow Melt, which was sadly put on hiatus in favor of working on this one. Please tell me if you notice any mistakes, and of course let me know if you enjoyed the first chapter! The more reviews I get, the happier and more motivated I am to write ;)

Kurama-OC pairing, rated M for language and possible future sexual themes.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho; I do however, own the OCs that show up in the story.

* * *

**Chapter one: Insanity's Mistress **

"The demon won't talk." A burly looking salamander demon with orange colored skin said while coming out of a room that was empty except for a haggard looking rat demon.

"Have you tried everything?" Yomi asked the orange demon.

"Hai."

"Then get Kyouran and have her extract the information." Yomi said and waited for the unruly she-demon to appear. A few minutes passed and she didn't show.

"Yomi-sama," a young demon came running up to the old goat demon.

"What is it? Where is Kyouran?" he snapped.

"That's just it, sir, no one can find her." the young demon flinched when Yomi reacted violently and punched the wall.

_ That damn demoness just does whatever she wants, doesn't she understand the position she is in?_ Yomi thought angrily but soon regained his cool composure. He knew about everything that went on in his territory, so he would just have to find Kyouran himself.

Cream colored hair billowed in the wind. Eyes, a misleadingly soft shade of purple, gazed out over the land. Kyouran sat on the edge of a cliff with one leg hanging over and the other drawn up, her left elbow resting on the knee, her right arm behind her and keeping her propped up. She had traveled just outside of Gandara's boarders and therefore just outside of Yomi's reach. She was terribly bored with the work that she did for the goat demon, and incredibly fed up with his superior attitude, thinking that she was under his control. _I can leave anytime I want…_ she would always repeat that same line, yet she never acted upon it. She sighed and brought her other leg up to her chest and wrapped both her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees now. _What's the next step in my life?_ She often came to this cliff to watch the thundering purple clouds of the Makai and try and figure out what she wanted to do with herself. She didn't want to go back to being an assassin, that would be almost as boring as working for Yomi, and she had already been there, done that. So what was there for and ex-assassin, with no skills other than to kill and break people? Every time she came to this cliff she would mull over these same thoughts but had yet to find an answer to them. She sighed again and stood, pulling her mask up over her mouth and nose. She started making her way back to Yomi's territory, and could already imagine his voice nagging her as she continued to walk towards where she was needed.

"Kyouran!" Yomi bellowed as Kyouran entered the interrogation wing of the giant tower-like castle in the center of Gandara. He stalked up to her, trying to intimidate her but failed miserably.

"Yomi." She greeted calmly. His face twitched at the informality.

"Where have you been? I needed you two hours ago!" his decibel level had lowered considerably but his tone still showed how furious he was.

"I was out." Her vague and sarcastic reply accompanied by a shoulder shrug was met with more irritation.

"Out where? Out of Gandara? Because I couldn't locate you anywhere and you are not permitted to do that." Yomi growled. Kyouran looked at him and started chuckling to herself, which only pissed Yomi off further. "And what is so funny?"

"You never get this riled up with anyone but me." she lowered her voice to a seductive drawl and leaned up to his face. "Better be careful or I'll start thinking I'm special." She gently snapped her teeth from under her mask near his ears as she walked by him and into the interrogation room with the still chained demon. He looked up with bloodshot but fierce eyes and snickered at her. She didn't react, just simply leaned against the wall opposite him and stared. Roughly half an hour passed before the demon started yelling profanities at Kyouran, threatening her and challenging her to do her worst. She kept her cool, waiting for his ranting to cease. Once he had somewhat quieted, Kyouran lowered her mask from her face and just barely parted her lips. Mist started seeping out of her mouth, spilling through the air and onto the floor.

"What the hell is this? You expect me to be frightened of a little mist? What good will it do you? I already know you are in here, there's no point trying to hide your presence!" he started shouting again. Kyouran stayed silent and continued to let the mist trickle from her lips and soon it had shrouded most of the room in a hazy fog. "Is this the worst you can do?" the demon shouted again. Silence greeted his question and he had to squint to make out Kyouran's shadowy silhouette. The shadow started moving around in the mist, winking in and out of the chained demon's sight.

"What are you afraid of?" the whispered question in his ear startled the demon.

"I'm not afraid of anything! You can't scare me!" the demon was becoming flustered. The question made him think briefly of the things he _was_ scared of, filling his mind with unbidden and terrifying images. Kyouran slipped through the mist, whispering more questions and dodging the demons fists when he took a swing at her with the limited amount of movement the chains offered. The mist was taking its effect, causing her victim to slowly retreat into his own mind. "What causes you pain?" She kept whispering letting the power in her voice help coax the demon into the trance. Once he had stopped moving and responding she brushed her fingers across his shoulder making sure that he wasn't awake.

"Please let me in; you'll let me in wont you?" Kyouran asked in a sweet voice while she placed her hands gently on the demons neck and trailed them up to the sides of his face. His body relaxed as Kyouran took control and slipped into his mind. She picked his brain apart, bit by bit, all the while letting his mind conjure up whatever nightmares plagued him, until she found all the information she wanted. She left his mind, leaving it fractured and dysfunctional. When she stood he grabbed her leg, his eyes staring off into some unknown world and mumbling nonsense; she kicked his hand off and when he reached for her again she stomped on his hand and broke it. The demon screeched, but still his eyes showed that he was lost in a world of horror and darkness. "Disgusting and pathetic." She spat while pulling her mask back up and left the room which was now empty of her toxic mist.

Standing just outside the door was Yomi, who spoke to her as she strode past. "That took an awful long time." His jab at Kyouran's skill irked her but she turned to him with a schooled expression.

"I was feeling exceptionally lazy today, so I let him do most of the work." Yomi's smug expression turned into a slight frown but he let Kyouran go without saying anything else after she relayed the information she had gotten. Two guards came to dispose of the babbling demon that was lost in the insanity of his broken mind.

Later that night Kyouran was laying on top of her bed, waiting for when dinner would be served, when her door opened. Yomi walked into the room and up to the side of her bed.

"You should really knock, who knows what kind of naughty things I could have been doing when you walked in. oh wait, that's right, you know everything that goes on everywhere in your territory. What a perv." She said with a sneer just to annoy him while letting him know she was not happy with the lack of courtesy. She looked at him currently towering over her and saw his face twitch but he gave no response to her jibe.

"We need to discuss your lack of adherence to the terms of our agreement." He said. Kyouran snorted at him and waved her hand dismissively.

"There's nothing to discuss, I went for a breather, that's all." Yomi grabbed her wrist in a tight grip to stop her little wave. Kyouran's expression hardened in displeasure.

"Don't forget that you are under my control and will obey my commands." He growled as his grip tightened. Kyouran left her wrist in his hand and stood while using the skin to skin contact to take control of his sensory receptors. With just a thought she sent unimaginable pain coursing through his body making him jerk his hand away.

"Don't forget, Yomi-_sama_, that if I had wished it so, I could have escaped. I'm only here because _I_ feel like it." Kyouran circled Yomi now, trailing her fingers across any bare skin she could find, causing a multitude of different feelings and emotions to surface with her power. He glowered at her, but didn't move to stop her. "Don't give me that sour expression," she stopped in front of him and traced the lines of his face. "You'll get wrinkles." This time she had pleasure run through his body, though the only change was a slight flush on his cheeks. She dropped her hands after a moment and was about to leave when Yomi stopped her by placing his hands on her shoulders. The force of his grip changed as if he was debating whether to throttle her or hug her. She sighed and decided for him by gently removing his hands, her shoulder sagging in sudden exhaustion; teasing Yomi was fun but at the end of it all it still required energy and she was still bored as hell.

"You will not leave Gandara again unless I give you permission." He commanded in a tone meant to discourage any arguing.

"I will do what I please." She insisted. This time there was no debate as Yomi lunged for her neck, but stopped millimeters from touching her. She smirked, knowing that he couldn't physically touch her bare skin. Of course Yomi could harm her many other ways, but he only growled low in his throat and left in a flourish, slamming the door after him. _Maybe I shouldn't tease him so much, I'm not invaluable so he can try and get rid of me any time he feels like it. But then again, it isn't all that important to be able to stay here._ The thought of just leaving flitted through Kyouran's mind, but then she glanced at her plush bed and decided it would just be easier to stay as Yomi's rebellious little pet for a while longer.

The next few weeks went much the same with Kyouran running off and Yomi yelling at her, settling into a routine. Finally something interesting happened, although it didn't take away Kyouran's boredom for very long. News of Raizen's impending death and his son being the new king upon said death reached Gandara very quickly.

"So Yomi, what are you planning on doing?" Kyouran asked him as he paced in her room. He didn't answer her, and she wasn't expecting a reply. He would often visit her when he wanted to discuss something or wanted a place to think. At first it had greatly bugged Kyouran, but eventually she gave up trying to bar him from her room and let him do what he wanted. _I wonder if that's how he feels when I ignore him and do whatever I want._ She thought as she waited for his pacing to stop or for him to leave.

"I'm going to contact an old _friend_ of mine." He finally said and left her room as quickly as he came. Kyouran thought about what he said for a moment before dismissing it and thinking about other more important things.

* * *

Kurama was settling into his room at Yomi's castle after being appointed his military advisor. He was trying to think of a way to get out of this, but since Yomi had threatened his family he didn't have much of a choice. After he had checked for any messages with the cell he had linked his home phone to, he started unpacking what he would need while he stayed here. He heard voices outside and stopped what he was doing to listen.

"What do you mean she left four hours ago?!" Kurama heard Yomi shouting in the hall followed by a meek reply from another demon. "Then find her!" Yomi hissed. Kurama mulled over who this person could be to get Yomi so worked up. He didn't have enough information, but cataloged this little incident for later. He heard Yomi approaching his room and waited for him to enter. "Kurama, I request that you attend the war unification meeting in an hour." Kurama nodded and Yomi left him alone.

After the meeting, Kurama decided it would be nice to walk around the castle a bit while he thought. He was planning on contacting Jin and the others that they had made friends with at the Dark Tournament and training them, but needed to figure out a place to keep them while they got stronger. As he made his way back to his room, he came upon a hallway adjacent to the one where his room was located that held an eerie feeling. As he continued down the dark hallway he found a door that was locked but held the scent of a female demon. It was stale, suggesting the tenant had been out for a while. He wondered if this was the room of the she-demon Yomi had been upset about earlier. Again he cataloged the information, waiting for it to come in handy and continued to his room.

* * *

"Ah ha ha ha! Satsuki you're a mad genius! I can't believe I've never thought of that!" Kyouran took another shot of some very strong liquor as her friend laughed with her. She had sensed coyote demon's presence around two hours ago when she was taking a walk around Gandara and invited her old friend for a drink.

"Well of course you haven't, you fuck with people's heads. There's no need for you to resort to creative physical torture. What exactly do you do to them again?" Satsuki took another shot as well. Both demons were slightly buzzed by now, but kept the alcohol coming.

"My mist and voice are laced with my yoki which causes my victims to enter a coma-like state. After they enter this state of unconsciousness I invade their mind and once inside I create a separate dimensional space in there and lock them in, leaving them to decorate it with whatever nightmares that lay buried in their hearts. Then I can literally just peruse like I'm in the market, taking what I want or need until I'm finished." Kyouran's nonchalant reply made Satsuki snort.

"Oh come now Kyouran, I've seen the masterpieces you've created. Bat shit crazy and completely insane. Some worse than others. What do you do to make them like that? It seems to run in your family." Satsuki gave a wicked smirk.

Kyouran grimaced, thinking about her deranged family members, but then focused on Satsuki's question and answered again in a nonchalant tone, "depending on what I do to them the insanity can be mild or severe. Picking apart their minds the way I do causes damage, and renders most of their cognitive functions useless. If I happen to be feeling generous I will sometimes leave them mostly intact, and slightly able to function. And like I said before, I lock them inside a separate dimension in their own minds; they never really come out, unless I let them of course, and even then there is permanent damage to their psyche." Satsuki laughed at how normal it seemed for Kyouran to talk about causing people to go insane.

"You really know how to have fun, ne?" Satsuki continued downing the alcohol and ordering another bottle for the two of them. Kyouran took another swig before answering.

"Well I used to. I suppose to some people this kind of thing might seem interesting, but I'm so bored of it. It's the same thing every time, there's no challenge or excitement." She sighed and looked to her friend for advice.

"Well then maybe it's time to move on and find something else that catches your interest." Satsuki's words were ones that had run through Kyouran's mind plenty of times, offering little help with reaching a solution to the problem.

"I've thought of that many times," frustration seeped its way into Kyouran's voice and she took it out on the new bottle that was set on the table. "I don't know what to do! I've honed my skills to be a killer, to mess with people's heads. I had my sickly sweet fun when I was living with my mom and sister; it got boring so I became an assassin. That too became boring, so when Yomi offered to work for him I thought it would be fun. But now he thinks he has control of me, and the only fun I have anymore is pissing him off. What is there left for me to do?" she finished off the bottle and threw it across the room at some drunken, purple-scaled demon who had been making obscene gestures at her and Satsuki for a good ten minutes.

"Kyouran, you're what, 640 years old? This is the age where most high strung demons start settling down. If it were any demon but you, I would suggest finding a mate." Satsuki kept her eyes on Kyouran while talking, and decapitated the angry purple demon who had stormed over after having been hit with the empty sake bottle.

"A mate?" Kyouran considered the option, but threw it out when she remembered how well that went with the rest of her family. "You're right," Kyouran smiled at Satsuki. "If it was any other demon maybe, but I'm just not suited for that kind of thing."

"Ha! I can just imagine those family gatherings." Satsuki cackled at her own joke and Kyouran dropped her forehead against the table.

"I don't even wanna think about that." Kyouran whined. Satsuki reached over and patted her head in sympathy. Kyouran and Satsuki continued to chat and drink until they couldn't see straight.

* * *

"Aaahh, what time s'it?" Satsuki and Kyouran stumbled out into the street, leaning heavily on each other to stay upright.

"Ha ha ha, who caressss, I'll bet you…I'll bet you Yomi is friggen pissed at…at me. S-stupid ole goat." Kyouran stuttered through her half thought sentence as she followed Satsuki to the place she was staying at. They dragged themselves up the stairs to a small apartment and collapsed on the bed together.

"You'll gets inta trouble, if ya stay here t'night, won't cha?" Satsuki mumbled with her face half covered by a pillow.

Kyouran pulled her mask up before she said, "Who cares, he always forgives… forgives me. I think he secretly liiikesss me." Kyouran snorted at her own statement, her drunken mind supplying her with hilarious images of Yomi pathetically confessing his undying love for her. This sent her into a fit of giggles, and Satsuki couldn't help but start laughing as well even though she had no idea why, turning into full blown hysterical laughter until the two passed out.

In the morning Kyouran woke up with a furious headache, and helped herself to a hot shower. The water and steam helped lessen her torment a bit, and when she was done she woke Satsuki with a not so gentle nudge.

"Get up ya lazy bum. You reek of alcohol and its making my headache worse." She snipped and then went to the kitchen to make breakfast for the two of them.

Satsuki groaned and slowly sat up to glare at Kyouran. "Don't be so bitchy just cause you're hung over; I'm in pain too you know." She kept grumbling to herself as she went to take a shower.

After breakfast Kyouran said goodbye to her longtime friend and started making her way back to Yomi's castle. She snuck around to the back entrance and lowered her yoki to almost nothing to avoid detection and flitted up to the safety of her room. Once she had the door shut and locked she fell on her bed and decided to try and sleep off her hang over.

The next morning as Kurama got dressed he detected a pathetic amount of yoki near his room. _It must be that female from the other day; I wonder where she has been._ The thought must have also been going through Yomi's mind as well because shortly after Kurama heard him storming over to the creepy room. He heard yelling coming from the room, and what sounded like airborne objects as the smaller yoki signature suddenly flared and then disappeared.

Walking out of his room Kurama ran into a seething Yomi. "Having difficulties?" he asked in a measured tone. Yomi clearly didn't want Kurama knowing about the altercation and calmed himself.

"She is a handful." He grumbled and then gestured for Kurama to follow him. The red head did so and they talked about Kurama's plans.

After the meeting with Yomi, Kurama contacted the demons he was planning to train and Genkai, to set up a training facility on Genkai's property. Over the next couple of days he arranged everything and then announced to Yomi that he would be going to the human realm for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Hoorah! Thank you and Congratulations SissyPerigrin for being the first to review! I really appreciate the feedback!

Now, for a small tid bit of information for my readers: I will be very _loosely_ following the storyline of the last few episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho; the large/main events will take place but I will not be going into detail to describe what has already been shown on the anime, nor will I directly follow the dialog, as its tedious for me to write all that down to the last detail and boring for the readers to have to reread what they have already watched in the anime. As such there might be some _slight_ errors that may not match up directly with the anime, but seeing as only the first few chapters of this story take place during the tail end of the anime, the rest taking place after the end of the anime, it is not imperative for these to be corrected.

Thank you all who take the time to read my story, and a special thanks to those who choose to review. I hope you enjoy this second chapter :)

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**Chapter two**

**Rotten Fish**

Kyouran was stomping around outside of Gandara, destroying what she could find in a rage of indignant fury. "That asshole! Coming in and yelling at the top of his lungs because I had a fun night out with an old friend, who the hell does he think he is?" she screamed in anger and punched another tree, sending it toppling to the ground. She kept yelling obscenities and cursing Yomi until the landscape around her had been destroyed. She had spent a good amount of her rage, but her anger towards the lord of Gandara still simmered and she knew that if she saw him anytime soon one of them would end up dead so she stormed through the land until she came upon a natural cave that seemed vacant. She set up camp there and spent the next few days calming down. She didn't remember the last time she had been so incensed; normally she would get maybe a little peeved but not fly off the handle. She gave herself another day to calm down before she went back to Yomi.

Yomi was waiting for Kyouran to come back after storming off like a child. _That girl is spoiled rotten, her mother ruined her. She should have been raised by her father._ He thought as he paced. There was no telling if she would actually come back this time, and Yomi wanted to keep her around. Despite being a pain in the ass he was fond of the she-demon in the same way he would be fond of a troublesome pet. When they weren't at odds he enjoyed her company and sharp tongue. Also, _he_ had said to keep an eye on her. Yomi sighed. _Now I almost feel bad that I yelled at her… almost._

A few days later he sensed that Kyouran was back in Gandara and was coming back to the castle. He waited for her just inside the front doors. She walked in, glared at him and started to walk past but he grabbed her arm.

"I apologize." Was all he said before he walked away, leaving Kyouran confused and slightly astonished. She narrowed her eyes as she watched him walk away.

"What does that old goat want?" she mumbled to herself and walked back to her room. As she passed through the hallways she smelled something. "What the hell? It reeks of fox." She followed the stale scent to one of the guest rooms. She knew the owner of the scent had not been here for a while, so she decided to do some snooping. She went into the room and looked around. There were very few things that belonged to the fox, confirming that he had no intention of staying for very long. She looked through the closet and desk drawers, under the bed, but found nothing of interest. She pouted to herself and left, not even bothering to clear her tracks.

For about a week or two, Yomi and Kyouran avoided contact with each other unless it was absolutely necessary. But then their normal pattern of bickering and odd companionship slowly resumed its normal pace.

"Soragoto Kyouran." A voice called out from the other side of the hallway Kyouran was in. she turned and saw a salmon colored and scaly fish demon. He was large and obviously trying to impress this fact upon Kyouran as he towered over her.

"There's this thing called personal space, fish breath." She growled at the large demon who was Yomi's chief of military, trying to get him to take a step back. It didn't work and only seemed to encourage him.

"My name is Shachi, and you would do well to remember It." he snarled at her, but then seemed to rethink his attitude.

"What is it that you want?" Kyouran stood firm even when Shachi took another step closer. She was itching to sink her fist into his gut as he smirked down at her.

"I came to invite you to dine with me this evening." His voice told Kyouran that he was very sure of himself, and his attitude screamed pretentious and cocky. Kyouran felt like she was going to be sick when the thought of him hitting on her entered her mind. The disgust must have showed on her face because Shachi took another step closer, bringing them almost chest to face. Kyouran now had to crane her neck to keep eye contact.

"Not in a million years." She spat and shoved past him. She could feel the rage that rolled off of Shachi, but he didn't make any move to attack her. She felt utterly grossed out now, and decided to head to the kitchen to get some hot tea. While she was there she had a pleasant chat with the cook and some maids. "Thank you for the tea, it was delicious." She said and gave a smile through her mask that she had pulled back up after finishing her tea.

"Ah no problem at all. If you are ever hungry, and don't feel like dining with the others, come and let me know; I'd be happy to make you something anytime." The friendly raccoon demon said. He was a pudgy man, with black markings around his eyes and a pushy tail sticking out from under his cooking clothes. Kyouran liked his kind demeanor and soft spoken words.

"I'll be sure to take you up on that offer sometime." She said and left. She was in a pleasant mood after the tea, and not even finding Yomi in her room could ruin her mood. "Ah Yomi, I'd say to let yourself in but you already have. What a pleasant surprise." She said in a light but sarcastic tone.

He shrugged his shoulders as she sat on the edge of her bed waiting for him to say what was on his mind. He obliged and told her about the problems he was having with Shachi.

"Is that why that pretentious ass hit on me earlier?" she snarled as she remembered his invitation to dinner.

"He what?" Yomi asked. Kyouran looked surprised for a minute, then smug.

"You mean to tell me the great, all-knowing Yomi, doesn't know that his military chief of staff invited me to dine with him? You're getting rusty old man." Kyouran pulled off her mask and set it on her bedside table and grinned at Yomi.

Yomi was a bit peeved that this information had slipped past him, but then smirked back at Kyouran. "You just said I was great, that's the first compliment you've ever given me." It was his turn to be smug.

"Slip of the tongue, don't expect it too often." Kyouran grumbled as she propped up some pillows and laid back on them, with her hands behind her head.

Yomi looked at her mask and then used it to change the subject. "Why do you wear this thing?" he asked and picked it up.

"Oh, sometimes I'll forget to control my toxic mist, so I wear it as a reminder. It's also made from a special material that will filter my mist if I still forget or lose control of it." she shrugged. Yomi placed the mask back on the table, and stood to leave, abruptly ending the conversation.

"Good night, Kyouran."

"Night, Yomi."

Over the next couple of months Shachi continuously cornered Kyouran and shamelessly hit on her. She was growing extremely irritated with his advances and was about ready to kill him.

"I swear if he comes near me one more time I'm going to skin him alive." She growled to herself as she escaped from him yet again.

"Kyouran," Yomi's voice rang through the hall. She turned to face him as he walked gracefully up to her. "There will be a meeting in half an hour; I would like you to attend. That old friend I told you about will be bringing the demons he was training in to be evaluated, and I would like your opinion on them." He told her. She heaved a sigh of frustration.

"I don't want to go to some military meeting, especially if that repulsive fish will be there." She all but whined at Yomi.

"That 'fish' will not be around much longer, I can assure you. So please, attend the meeting, I believe you will find it interesting." Yomi had masked his expression but Kyouran could tell he was up to something.

"If you insist." She said cautiously. She followed Yomi to where the meeting would take place and waited impatiently for it to start. She was irritated and grumpy by the time everyone had shown up aside from the mysterious "friend" of Yomi's and his little minions. Shachi was undressing her with his eyes and looked as if he was about to make a lewd comment. Kyouran turned her deadly glare on him and let some mist flow out through her mask as a threat, making her look like a pissed off dragon blowing smoke.

"Yomi-san, as I promised I have brought six people with power readings of over 100,000."

Kyouran's irritation spiked as the stench of fox hit her nose, signaling that the meeting had finally begun. She whipped her head back to the front of the meeting hall and fixed her glare on a tall redhead with green eyes. _So that's the mysterious kitsune._ She thought as she evaluated him. He looked to have a nice build, so he was probably good at hand to hand combat and she could feel he had extremely strong yoki. His expression was carefully neutral, and he had a calculating gaze. Kyouran didn't want to admit it but he was a powerful demon, and if she were to fight him she might have a tough time beating him.

* * *

Kurama walked up the stairs onto the platform where Yomi was sitting, a slender female demon standing next to him, and Shachi next to her. He felt her soft pinkish purple eyes locked on him in a fierce stare. Mist seeping out from underneath a black mask she wore over her mouth and nose, and her cream colored locks fell in a wild mess around her in an imitation of her fluctuating yoki, reminding Kurama of a dragon. She kept her eyes on him for another minute before she turned to look at the people Kurama brought. Kurama took that time to study Shachi, who had been leering at the female, but was now focusing on the six demons Yoda was evaluating. After Yoda's evaluation, and while he was ridiculing Schachi, Kurama watched out of the corner of his eye as the female demon leaned down and whispered into Yomi's ears, neither of them betraying what was said with blank expressions.

"Kurama," Yomi said after dismissing the female and silencing Shachi's whining, "you will be my new Military chancellor." He announced and then dismissed the meeting. Kurama gave a small bow and then left to get Jin and the others settled in their rooms.

After everyone was settled, Kurama was walking though the dark and desolate feeling tower when he entered a large hallway with glass windows letting in the uncanny light of the Makai's moon shine through. He became aware of two presences following him, and called out to the one that posed a threat.

"Come out Schachi, I know you're there."

Kyouran left the meeting after she gave her opinion on Kurama, the red headed fox demon, and his subordinates. She was impressed by his work, and thoroughly intrigued by his personality. It was obvious he and Yomi had some beef, so why would he put forth so much effort to help him? Her thoughts were interrupted when Shachi stepped out in front of her. She growled in irritation.

"What the fuck is it this time?" she snapped. Shachi again invaded her personal space, advancing until she was forced to either touch him or back up. The thought of his stupidity rubbing off on her scared and repulsed Kyouran so she opted to back up and felt a wall against her back. Shachi placed his hands on the wall next to each side of Kyouran's head and glowered down at her.

"I'm fed up with your refusal of me, and I promise you, you will be mine. But right now I want your help with something." His breath fanned across Kyouran's face and she couldn't help but gag.

"Don't even bother, I wouldn't help you if my life depended on it." she spat and ducked under his arms to escape. He whipped around and grabbed her by the throat and slammed her back against the wall.

"You _will_ help me or I will kill you." He threatened. Kyouran was about to snap when Yomi's words rang through her head. _"That 'fish' will not be around much longer, I can assure you."_ Obviously he had something up his sleeve, and who was Kyouran to ruin his plans?

"What do you want?" she asked as she tried to reign in her temper. He grinned and his grip loosened.

"I want you to help me kill that bastard Kurama." Kyouran wasn't all that surprised to hear Shachi say this as she had figured it was his plan all along to enlist her help, hence the continuous advances he had made over the past months. Kyouran trailed her fingers up his arm, taking hold of his bicep and let her mist start surrounding them while he was distracted by her hand and leaned up to his ear.

"Not on your life." His eyes widened but before he could react Kyouran whispered again. "Now suffer." And with that Shachi fell to the ground writhing in agony. Kyouran laughed at the pathetic sight. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to put you in your place, asshole. Tonight _you_ will be the one killed." She took her hand away from him and the pain coursing through him stopped. He jumped up and looked around but couldn't see anything through the thick mist. "Unfortunately it's not me who will kill you. Oh and don't worry, the mist is filtered, so you won't go into a coma, its only here so that I can leave without you following." Her voice echoed and then disappeared.

Kyouran secretly trailed Shachi as he went to confront Kurama. She knew that Kurama was going to kill him, and wanted to see what tricks he had hidden up his sleeve. Yomi had also requested that she keep an eye on Kurama, just in case he decided to try something. So she watched in fascination as Kurama's hair turned silver and he grew a set of fox ears and a tail. Within seconds he had killed Shachi with a thorny whip made from a rose. _So he is a plant manipulator._ Kyouran stayed in the shadows, watching Kurama for a few minutes more.

Kurama felt the she-demon's eyes on him and turned to see the purple orbs glinting from the shadows. He smiled at her, and then walked back to his room to find it had been rummaged through, courtesy of the female. He sighed and placed everything back to where it belonged. _She might be troublesome to deal with._ The thought reminded him of when Yomi had the altercation with her and had said something similar. At the moment she didn't pose as much of a threat, so he decided to just observe her actions and see what she was up to.

* * *

_He has a nice smile._ Kyouran was sitting in her room, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the kitsune. For her, it was like getting a new puzzle toy to try and figure out. She smiled thinking of the fun she would have with her new toy. _I'll follow him for a while, see what he's up to, and once Yomi doesn't need him anymore…well, then the fun will really begin._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **Hello everyone! For those of you still reading this story here is chapter three! Thanks again to **SissyPerigrin** for the review! You are right, Kyouran is definitely a spoiled brat for sure! Maybe a certain foxy red head can whip her into shape :)

Btw...REVIEW! I need feedback from those who are reading the story so I know if you guys are enjoying it! I would LOVE an in-depth review about character personalities to know if I am doing a good job of keeping them in character or not, yadda yadda, BUT I know a lot of readers don't feel like going to those lengths SOOOO even just a "good job, liking the story" or "Bad job, Don't like it" would still be greatly appreciated!

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Cat and Mouse**

Kyouran diligently followed Kurama, keeping tabs on him, also sometimes following his subordinates, but he didn't do anything out of the ordinary. He would come out of his room and join the others in the dining hall to eat, then go back to his room and call his humans. (Kyouran couldn't figure out why such a powerful demon would involve himself with such weak creatures.) And then he would attend meetings with Yomi, after which he either went to the gardens and spent hours with the plants there, or went to the training fields and, well, trained. Kyouran couldn't find any ulterior motives, or hidden agendas. _Maybe he really doesn't have any._ She thought as she followed him to the gardens. Today was warm, and pleasant, very rare and uncharacteristic of this region in the Makai, so as Kyouran perched herself in a fragrant, flowering tree to observe Kurama, she found herself nodding off.

"Why don't you come join me? Surely my company would be a much better alternative to falling out of a tree?"

The kitsune's silky voice startled Kyouran into awareness and she snapped her head in his direction, locking her eyes onto his green ones. This was the first time that he had spoken to her even though Kyouran knew that he was well aware of her presence following him for the past week or two. She hesitated, not really wanting to interact with the fox, but eventually she dropped to the ground gracefully and stood a few feet from where he crouched in front of a plant. She leaned on her right leg, placing her hand on her hip and staring down at him. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled.

"What's your name?" Kurama asked the surly demon standing a safe distance from him. He found it amusing to try and throw her off her game as it was the only entertainment he could find.

"Soragoto Kyouran. What about yours, fox?"

"Youko Kurama. Do you know much about plants?" He saw her eye twitch in annoyance.

"No." she growled. "Why?" Kurama, undeterred by her churlish tone, used his hand to beckon her over to the plant he was in front of. It held the appearance of a red colored weed, with orange little fronds at the tips of its jagged leaves. Kyouran grudgingly edged closer, and crouched down next to Kurama.

"This plant is often considered a weed, and is very common around the Makai, but what most demons do not know is that it is good for staving off infections." Kurama cut the small plant at the base of its stem, and pulled off the orange fronds. "You grind its leaves and stalk into a poultice and apply it to any wound. As long as you regularly clean and apply a fresh batch twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, then it should prevent the wound from getting infected." Kurama then demonstrated how to make the poultice and had Kyouran make it. Two hours later Kurama stood up and dusted himself off. He had taught Kyouran about many of the plants that were in the garden and their uses. Kyouran was perplexed by all this, but none the less appreciated it.

"I am afraid I have a meeting to attend so I must go. It was nice meeting you, Soragoto-san." Kurama said as he offered a hand to help Kyouran to her feet. Kyouran ignored it while giving him a snide look, but then on a second thought called out to Kurama as he walked away.

"Hey fox," he stopped and turned his head. "Thank you, it was…enlightening." He gave her a simple smile and continued on his way.

* * *

"He knows a lot about plants."

Yomi stared at Kyouran in complete silence for a few minutes. "What?"

Kyouran glanced up at Yomi with one eyebrow raised. "You're blind not deaf ya old goat." Then she looked back at the human novel that Kurama had given her to read. She had to admit that humans had extremely wild imaginations, most of which stemmed from ignorance and fear but none the less made for great bedtime stories.

"You've been tailing him for months! Raizen's death could be any day now and you're telling me that you've learned nothing?" Yomi shouted at Kyouran who winced at how loud his voice was. _Kurama's voice is so much softer and more pleasant to listen to._ Kyouran sighed wistfully, thinking about the fox's gentle manner. After the day that Kurama had first spoken to Kyouran, it became a sort of routine to join him in the gardens or woods and have him teach her about various plants, enjoying each other's companionship and talking about whatever was on their minds. She enjoyed how relaxed she felt when she was around Kurama; there was something about him that piqued her interest, but also soothed her. Maybe it was because Kurama always kept himself calm and composed no matter what he was faced with or how bad-tempered Kyouran could be.

"Kyouran are you even listening to me?" Yomi shouted again and slapped her upside the head.

"Hey don't hit me! You act like my mom." Kyouran grumbled as she rubbed her head and glared at him. "And for your information, I've learned quite a lot; that knowledge just happens to be about plants and practically useless human traditions. Did you know they celebrate a holiday called Christmas by having some strange man named Santa Claws sneak into their places of dwelling while they are asleep, and leave gifts for them? I mean, how much stupider can you get? Why would anyone want some stranger with claws in their house while they are completely defenseless?" she continued to rant about the strange things that humans did until Yomi hit her with a small blast of yoki that sent her toppling off the bed. "Ow you mother fucker that hurt! What the hell was that for?" she popped up from the floor on the other side of the bed, dropping the book that had lain in her lap and her hands balling into fists and eyes flashing.

"You were supposed to be spying on Kurama, not having tea parties in the garden with him!" Yomi was irritated beyond belief and felt he might seriously maim the she-demon standing in front of him.

"Reality check Yomi; I was never trained as a spy. I was a twisted sadist, who became a brutal assassin, who became your interrogation lackey. Sneaking up on someone to kill them is a lot easier than having to follow them day after day without being noticed. Kurama spotted me on day one, he's not stupid, on the contrary he's actually quite brilliant. Besides, I don't think Kurama is hiding anything. It's obvious that he holds loyalty to Raizen's brat, and the only reason he is here is because you've got some sort of leverage with him. He hasn't really tried to hide that tidbit of information genius." She snarled back at Yomi, her Yoki flaring as she became more agitated. Yomi took a swing at her which she dodged with a shocked look on her face.

"You are completely useless! I don't know why I've put up with you for so long!" Yomi tried kicking her this time, but she blocked it, grabbing Yomi's leg and throwing him through the wall. He easily shook it off and sent another yoki blast at her. She dodged but got a kick to her back, this time being the one sent threw a few walls.

"Put up with me? You were the one who thought that he could _force_ me to stay! And just to let you in on a little secret, I could have left whenever I wanted; you hold no power over me!" she said as she rose from the pile of rubble and launched herself at Yomi.

* * *

Kurama had been resting in his room peacefully until he heard raised voices coming from Kyouran's room, catching small bits of their conversation. He had found out over time that it was a common occurrence for her and Yomi to bicker with each other, so he ignored it and went back to what he was doing. After a few minutes Kurama felt both of the arguing demon's yoki flare before there was a rumbling that sounded like a crumbling wall. He set his things down slowly, and was about to check on Kyouran and Yomi when the wall opposite him seemed to explode. When the dust cleared a bit he saw Kyouran pushing pieces of wall off of herself and standing up.

"Put up with me? You were the one who thought that he could _force_ me to stay! And just to let you in on a little secret, I could have left whenever I wanted; you hold no power over me!" Kyouran shouted at Yomi and took off at an extreme speed. Kurama Jumped into action and intervened by stepping in between the two and catching Kyouran around the waist and stopping her surprisingly strong punch that was headed for Yomi's face. Her body radiated ferocity but Kurama calmly turned her towards him and put a soothing hand on her shoulder. He held her pinkish purple eyes that were filled with rage.

"Honestly," Kurama started as Kyouran yanked her shoulder out of his grasp and huffed, breaking eye contact, "You two fight like a married couple." The comment was meant to diffuse some of the tension in which it was successful.

"Married couple? What's married?" Kyouran asked as her eyes returned to his, glare slowly softening and the tension leaving her muscles. Kurama chuckled at her and her interest in things relating to humans, and then turned to Yomi. He was still riled up and kept the scowl on his face, but addressed Kurama with a measured tone.

"You should not have interfered, Youko, for that spoiled brat needs to be taught a lesson." His remark made Kyouran's eyes narrow but Kurama put a hand on her shoulder again to keep her from starting up another battle.

"I understand your frustration, but you cannot blame her. I am not easy to spy on." He said with a knowing smile that bordered on a smirk.

"Tch." Yomi knew when he was beat and sent one final nasty frown at Kyouran before he stomped away. Kyouran glared at his back until he was out of sight and then turned to Kurama again shrugging off the hand on her shoulder.

"You should have let me beat the crap outta him." she huffed and then looked back to his room where the wall was destroyed. "Sorry about your room." She mumbled as an afterthought. The redhead just laughed softly and shook his head.

"Technically it isn't my room, it's a guest room. I'll just have to move my stuff into a different one." He looked through the hole and saw that Kyouran's room had been demolished as well. She followed his gaze and shrugged.

"I've been meaning to redecorate, or even just leave. Maybe this would be a good time to get out of here." She started thinking that it would be a good idea to get out of here before Yomi really started trying to off her.

Kurama stared at the she demon as her eyes became unfocused in deep thought. He didn't really want to see her go; she was great company even if she was overly sarcastic and difficult to deal with sometimes. She often reminded him of a mix between Hiei and Yusuke, which always made for great entertainment. He smiled at the thought. He really did miss his friends, and was not looking forward to when he had to face them in a real battle.

_"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"_ a loud siren began going off, startling the two demons. Commotion broke out as soldiers swarmed through the halls. Kurama was about to report to Yomi and see if he was needed when everything stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

"Wonder what that was about." He muttered to Kyouran, but she ignored him and without saying a word walked away. He was a bit taken aback at her sudden departure but figured she was just in a mood.

* * *

Kyouran had felt a very familiar yoki when the alarm went off. She hadn't felt it in a while, but she could never forget it. _What the hell is she doing here?_ She grumbled to herself, not needing anymore trouble at the moment. She stormed through the halls until she came to a place where the traces of yoki were strongest and analyzed it. _It's definitely her._ She cursed to herself and tried to pinpoint where the other demon had gotten off to, but there were no others signs that she had been in the tower. She sighed and went back to her decimated room, grabbing some essentials and bringing them to one of the unharmed guest rooms that were on the same floor.

A few days later Kyouran felt the familiar yoki of the other she-demon again and raced to try and catch her. She had already disappeared by the time Kyouran managed to pinpoint her location, and Kyouran cursed. "Stupid bitch, bein all sneaky and causing trouble."

The game of cat and mouse was on.

* * *

"Kyouran, what exactly are you doing?" Kurama had come across the flustered and out of breath demoness throwing a mini temper tantrum just outside the tower.

"Absolutely nothing of your concern." She grumbled as her tantrum subsided. She regained her composure and faced Kurama with her full attention. "What brings you out here, foxy?" she gave him a self satisfied grin at her new nickname for him.

"How original," his sardonic tone made Kyouran's grin vanish to be replaced with a scowl. "I'm out here because I needed fresh air. I've been cooped up in the meeting room with Yomi and Yoda for a few hours now, so I figured I'd stretch my legs."

"Ah, makes sense." Kyouran said, seeming slightly distracted. Kurama took the chance to study her for a moment. She was an interesting demoness that was for sure. He didn't know the specifics, but had a small understanding of her powers which seemed to be extremely useful and fairly lethal in the right situations, her physical strength was nothing to be laughed at, and she was very intelligent and quick thinking although she didn't seem to utilize that very much, reacting more based on her short temperament instead. Overall if she chose, Kyouran could be a force to be reckoned with. This begged the question of how and why she ended up working for Yomi if their unstable relationship was anything to go by.

"Why are you here, Kyouran?" Kurama finally asked after a bit of thought. She blinked in slight surprise at his seemingly random question.

"Because I don't really have anywhere else to be." She answered and tilted her head as if wondering if she had answered his question right.

Being more specific, Kurama questioned "I meant how you ended up working for Yomi? You two do not always seem to get along very well." Kyouran made an "O" face underneath her mask in understanding before she answered.

"I was wandering around after deciding that I didn't want to be a freelance assassin anymore when a demon approached me and told me that he wanted me to kill one of the three ruling demons of the Makai. It was going to be my last job. I happened to choose Yomi as my target, but he caught me before I had a chance to kill him, and made me a deal; he wouldn't kill me if I chose to work for him as his interrogator. If I had chosen to I could easily have escaped, but I thought what the heck, since I wasn't going to be an assassin anymore I might as well take him up on his offer." Kyouran explained, looking fidgety. Kurama noted her odd behavior.

"And this is why you choose to listen to Yomi only half of the time?" he asked with an amused tone. Kyouran smiled and laughed.

"Yeah, he thinks that I took his deal because I feared for my life. It gets on my nerves that he underestimates me so much, but what can a demoness do? I also hate to admit it but I don't have the same blood lust I used to, everything is so boring now." She sighed. Then something caught Kyouran's attention and she mumbled a quick goodbye to Kurama before she took off.

"I wonder what's got her so occupied lately." He spoke to himself as he continued on his walk. He would have to remind himself to look into her odd behavior in more depth later.

Kyouran Picked up the intruding demons scent and followed it to a secluded part of town on the outskirts of Gandara. The scent cut off and Kyouran looked around her as demons started to surround her. All of them had glassy eyes that looked at her without seeing her.

"that damn rat, setting up a trap like this!" Kyouran took her anger out on the demons that were attacking her, killing them as quickly as she could. "Aaaaahg! Show yourself you piece of shit!" Kyouran roared to the skies and set off to search as much of Gandara as she could. Every now and again just as Kyouran was getting closer to finding the wily demoness, delusional demons would jump her, causing a blood bath. Eventually Kyouran became too worn out to continue and decided to return to Yomi's tower.

Walking through the halls many demons moved out of the way and gave her plenty of room to pass; not wanting to attract attention from the blood covered and irritated demoness. One unlucky demon who was only a lowly attendant rounded a corner too fast, plowing into Kyouran head on. Without hesitation Kyouran grabbed the small, blue eyed water demon and threw him down the hall to smash into the wall at the end. It was that moment that Kurama walked around the corner as well, stopping just in time before he too bumped into the irate demoness. He quickly glanced at her bloody figure, then to the demon who was stumbling to his feet, and back to glare at Kyouran.

"Was that necessary?" He said in a cold tone. Kyouran glared just as intensely back, snarling at him.

"would you like the same treatment?" Kurama didn't respond, holding her glare as she tried to stare him down, which pissed her off even more. When he didn't back down, Kyouran lashed out at Kurama, reaching to slice his neck with her claws. Kurama was quick to retaliate, snatching her wrist where it was covered in cloth, careful not to touch her skin, and twisting her arm behind her back and pushing her towards the wall. He then pressed the forearm of his free arm across Kyouran's upper back just above the shoulder blades, effectively pinning her to the wall.

"calm yourself and then I will release you." Kurama's voice was low and even, penetrating the haze of rage in the demoness' head. The one thing Kyouran couldn't stand was being trapped, and she would do anything the fox said to get him to let her go. She stilled her thrashing and relaxed her muscles, letting out a huff of breath in defeat. Seeing that she was calm, Kurama slowly released his hold and took a step back. Kyouran scowled at Kurama but turned and continued on her way to her room.

Kurama watched her go, frowning after her. Kyouran had been acting strange for the past couple of days; she was moodier than usual, distracted, and frequently came back from her outings covered in blood, wounded, or both. And along with her odd behavior, weird occurrences were happening around Gandara as well; battles were breaking out in unusual frequency even for the Makai, and even people around Yomi's tower were acting strange. He was trying to put the pieces together, knowing that Kyouran must somehow have something to do with this. The next day as he was thinking about this, he was approached by one of the guards. "Can I help you?" he asked with a friendly smile.

"You…" the demon said in a low voice and Kurama's smile slowly disappeared. "You son of a bitch! You're the spider demon who killed my brother!" the guard shouted before attacking Kurama. Last he checked, Kurama wasn't a spider demon.

_He thinks I'm someone else. Is he under some sort of spell?_ Kurama observed the demons behavior while dodging attacks, noticing that his eyes seemed to look in Kurama's direction but not actually focus on him. He was looking for a way to stop the guard without hurting him when the demon suddenly fell. Kurama rushed to check on him, but he was dead. In another part of the castle there was a commotion and he rushed to check what was happening. All over the castle guards and attendants were fighting each other, and just like what happened to the demon that attacked Kurama after a while if they hadn't already been killed demons would just drop dead.

"What the HELL is going on?" Yomi bellowed as he came upon the scene.

"Yomi-sama!" one demon shouted in surprise. Another explained, "We don't know, all of a sudden half of the tower's occupants went insane and started attacking fellow demons!"

"Kurama, is this true?" Yomi turned to him and he nodded.

"I was attacked by a guard just outside. I think these demons were under some sort of spell because they were not in their right minds when this happened. The demon that attacked me seemed to think I was someone else." Kurama elaborated.

"K-Kyouran." One demon stuttered. Everyone turned to look at him. "That's what she does to people, right? She makes them go insane. She must have been the one who caused this!" just as he finished his sentence all the color leeched from his face.

"Exactly _what_ did I cause?" Kyouran asked in a deadly calm voice as she came upon the scene before her. Everyone turned sharply to look at her. Kurama was about to speak but Yomi spoke first.

"A group of guards attacked fellow demons out of nowhere. According to Kurama they must have been under some sort of spell, but they show an uncanny resemblance to symptoms caused by your power, Kyouran. Care to explain?" she locked her eyes on him as he spoke and then turned her attention to Kurama. He held her formidable gaze, waiting to see what she would say.

"There is no need for me to explain because I didn't cause this. Honestly, what would I expect to gain from killing these worthless wastes of space?"She turned her back to Yomi and stalked off in a huff.

Yomi turned pointedly to Kurama. "Follow her." he said and Kurama took off after Kyouran. He caught up to her near the gardens where she had stopped to pace furiously back and forth. She was mumbling under her breath and Kurama simply watched her for a moment.

"Do you know who did this?" he asked after a while. Kyouran stopped pacing and glared at him.

"Well it wasn't me, if that's what you're implying." She snarled and Kurama shook his head and gave her a smile, trying to calm her temper. _She must still be mad at me from the other day._ He thought.

"that's not what I meant at all," he began, "it just seems that you know more about what is going on that anyone else." Her anger did not diminish as Kurama had hoped, but merely seemed to be directed somewhere other than him. She started mumbling to herself again and resumed pacing. Kurama was just about to say something but she suddenly stopped.

"I just have to set up a piece of cheese she can't resist." Kurama heard her say as a feline-like expression appeared on her face. She then turned to Kurama and addressed him directly. "Come with me." she abruptly turned and walked at a furious pace towards her room. Kurama followed after a moment of hesitation and waited as she rummaged through her room, tossing things about until she found what she was looking for. "Keep this with you, you might need it." She handed him some black fabric.

"What is it exactly?" he turned the fabric over in his hands, inspecting it.

"It's a mask like mine. I'll be back soon. Try not to get too lonely without me." she smirked underneath her mask and then she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** It's Alive! And very happy to be back! ^_^ Hello everyone, sorry for the looong absence, I have been dealing with some health issues, plus writers block and lack of motivation, but all is well now! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know I had fun writing it :) Reviews are always welcome! I like to know the thoughts of my readers; I aim to please!

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Mouse trap**

Kyouran traveled quickly to one of the other territories, Alaric, and watched its lord Mukuro carefully. He seemed to be much more interested in training a little fire demon than Kyouran. _He won't be easily influenced._ Kyouran thought and cursed under her breath. These two would be of no use in her plans. So she left Alaric and traveled to Tourin where the dying Raizen currently ruled. He was too weak to do anything about her presence, and his son, Yusuke, was practically oblivious to it. She smiled to herself and decided that once Raizen was dead, she would be able to influence his brat. It only took a week of patience before Raizen at last kicked the bucket. _Time to go to work._

That night when Yusuke was asleep, Kyouran slipped her mask off, letting her mist fill and surround the castle. Once that was complete she slipped into Yusuke's room and quickly placed her hand on his forehead, taking control of his sensory receptors so that he would not wake. She entered his mind, but did not create a dimension to lock him in, and gently prodded his brain for information. She was careful not to damage him, which was not difficult but went against everything she had done up until now. She learned that he was thinking of hosting a tournament to settle the power dispute between the three lords of the Makai. She smiled and shook her head at his simple yet exciting solution. She thought for a moment about how she could use this information to her advantage. _He will need to propose this idea, which means speaking to Mukuro and Yomi. That's it!_ Yusuke would be the irresistible piece of cheese if Kyouran could just get him to go to Gandara and Speak to Yomi in person. She had never planted information in a mind before, only taken it, so she winged it as she delicately tried to influence Yusuke's unconscious thoughts. _I hope this works._ She thought just as Yusuke's mind slowly started to recognize it had an intruder. Kyouran slipped out of his mind and out of his room, settling in to wait and see if her plan had worked.

The next morning Kyouran eavesdropped on Yusuke's conversation with one of his advisors. He didn't mention anything about the tournament, and Kyouran sighed. She was impatient to get things moving but knew that she couldn't do anything to compromise her position. As she had told Yomi once before, she was not trained as a spy, and didn't know how long she would be able to go unnoticed. A frustrated growl rose in her throat as she realized she would have to put distance between herself and the castle and wait until night to slip back into Yusuke's mind.

_This is going to be troublesome._

* * *

Kurama was sitting in the garden, tending to the plants after training, thinking of Kyouran. He didn't think that she was the one causing problems at the castle, but all the evidence pointed to her as the culprit; her power caused the same type of side effects that the demons had when they went crazy, she had acted extremely strange and disappeared for hours at a time, and when she suddenly left Gandara all the incidents seemed to stop. It had only been a few days since the she-demon had left but Kurama could already feel her absence strongly. She wasn't the most level headed demon, or the most even tempered, but her child-like curiosity, sharp wit, and feisty attitude never failed to entertain or keep him company.

Yomi was also affected by her absence, though in a much different way than Kurama had expected. He thought that Yomi would relax since he would no longer have to deal with Kyouran's constant sarcasm and I'll-do-whatever-I-want attitude towards him. Instead, he seemed flustered and agitated, like he had lost something important he had borrowed from a friend. He paced and grumbled to himself and even sent out search parties to find Kyouran, but she was long gone. Kurama sighed to himself, just wanting his stay in the Makai to come to an end so he could go back to his calm life in the human world.

About a week later Yomi was at his wits end trying to figure out if Kyouran would ever come back and Kurama found him pacing in his office.

"Why is it so important that Kyouran comes back? Sure her skills were helpful, but it isn't as if you can't get by without her." Kurama said as he leaned against the door frame. Yomi stopped his pacing and turned in Kurama's direction, his face tight with agitation.

"You are correct, her skills are not the reason I keep her here." He let out a frustrated breath and rubbed his forehead while leaning on his desk. Kurama patiently waited for him to continue his explanation. "Someone asked me to keep an eye on her for a while, and that someone can have a very nasty temper when things don't go his way." This piqued Kurama's curiosity, but Yomi dismissed him soon after and did not elaborate on who exactly this demon was that had asked him to watch Kyouran. Yomi's reasons for keeping Kyouran around did not match up to what Kyouran had told him, so he went to investigate more about Kyouran, but just as he reached the archives that Yomi kept, a messenger came running up to him and informed him that Raizen had died and Yomi wanted him in the meeting room immediately.

* * *

Eyes watched from the shadows as demons scurried around after hearing news of Raizen's death. The owner of those eyes laughed as she thought of all the chaos she would be able to cause now. Her employer would be very happy with her work. She had been waiting for Kyouran to return, because it was always so much fun to cause her trouble, but it had been a few weeks since she had left, and there was no sign of whether she would return or not. So she waited a few more days to see if Kyouran would return. Instead, the new lord of Tourin, Raizen's son, came to Gandara. The she-demon almost couldn't believe her luck! She would have two of the territories ruling demons in one spot, along with that delicious red headed fox demon Kurama. _This is almost too perfect._ She thought. She watched as the fox walked through the gardens, a favorite spot of his from what the she-demon had observed, on his way to where Yomi would be meeting with the new lord in an hour. She licked her lips at the sight of him, feeling the power radiating off of him. Kyouran sure did know how to choose 'em. He was attractive, even tempered, smart, and held a good deal of power. _He would be a fine mate._ She thought to herself as she infiltrated the castle and followed Kurama to where Yomi was.

Once Raizen's son, Yusuke was his name, was done talking to Yomi, Kurama and his friends entered the room and made it clear whose side they were on. The tension in the room was perfect, so the she-demon made her move. She blew a mist out from her mouth, filling up the room and causing panic among its occupants. She attacked Yusuke, but was blocked by the fox. She cursed under her breath, spewing more mist from her mouth in an attempt to blind Kurama. It worked for a moment as he lost track of her, but found her quickly again when she went after Yomi. _Damn that fox! Why isn't he affected by the mist?_ The demon thought, but then realized that he was wearing something over his mouth. _Dimmit, Kyouran must have given him a mask…she knew I would appear eventually, she must have set this up to lure me out._ She smiled to herself at the cleverness Kyouran had shown. She knew she wouldn't be able to beat Kurama now, and decided to cut her losses and leave before she got caught. She darted around everyone, all of whom were all stuck in delusions created by the mist, all except Kurama. He gave chase and they faced off outside. The she-demon saw Kurama's eyes widen in disbelief when he got a clear look at her. She gave a wicked smile and attacked him.

* * *

Kyouran reached Gandara shortly after Yusuke's group, just in time to see a figure burst from one of the rooms Yomi used to discuss business with guests, Kurama hot on their heels. She noticed mist spilling out of the broken window and cursed under her breath, making her way inside. Chaos reigned as the glazed eyed occupants of the room started fighting with each other, thinking each was someone else.

"That damn bitch! Now I have to deal with these sorry excuse for demons." Kyouran knew how to cure Yomi and the others, but if she didn't act fast they would tear each other apart before she could help them. She pulled her mask off and started exhaling her own mist, diving between Jin and Rinku, pulling them apart and spewing a concentrated blast of her mist into their mouths. They inhaled it and started hacking, their bodies slowly ridding itself of the other demon's toxins. She tossed them into a corner of the room so they would be out of the way and moved onto the next person.

By the time Kyouran had helped everyone in the room she was a little worse for wear, having been injured slightly when Yusuke and Yomi attacked her while she was helping one of the others. She left them to come to their senses on their own now that she had done her part. They wouldn't remember anything from while they were intoxicated with the other demons mist and should be fine after a few minutes. She needed to find the demoness that caused all this and put an end to their little game.

* * *

Kurama was shocked. He had his suspicions that it was Kyouran causing all the trouble around Gandara, and then just a minute ago when the room he was in with Yomi, Yusuke, and the others became filled with mist, but had hoped those suspicions were wrong. But he couldn't deny that it was Kyouran standing in front of him now, ready to attack him.

"Why are you doing this?" He growled but Kyouran only laughed and shook her finger at him.

"Now, now, hot stuff, it wouldn't be as much fun if I told you." She said and continued to giggle as she launched into an attack. Kurama dodged her fists and blocked her kicks, reluctantly throwing a counter attack. He took out his rose whip, but Kyouran surprised him and after shooting out more mist and disappearing from his sight for a moment reappeared right in front of his face. "Boo!" she hissed and sent a kick to his gut. He slid back from the force.

"Stop this now Kyouran!" he yelled at her and tried to wrap his whip around her legs to try and immobilize her. She dodged it and laughed at him, sending a barrage of throwing needles at him, he deflected them all but realized they were only a distraction. Kyouran had again gotten up close, making his rose whip harder to use, and started slicing at him with twin daggers. He pushed her back and was about to deliver a devastating blow to Kyouran when she used a smoke bomb and disappeared. He cursed under his breath, and went to go check on Yusuke and the others. They were confused but none of them were hurt.

"Kurama did you catch her?" Yomi questioned. Kurama shook his head.

"she gave me the slip." He said as he started helping Jin to his feet, then Rinku, and Chu.

"Who the hell was that, Kurama?" Yusuke demanded.

"She's a demoness that works for Yomi. I didn't think she would ever attack us." He looked at the smoldering Yomi and knew he had to find Kyouran before the lord of Gandara did or else she would be killed.

"Well what are we waitin' fer, Kurama, let's go find her yeah!" Jin shouted, rallying the others, but Kurama shook his head.

"You all stay here; I will find her. She may have failed this time but I know her better than you, and she won't fail a second time. Her abilities are dangerous and I don't even know the full extent of them." Kurama cursed in his head again at his lack of information; it was true he didn't know the full extent of Kyouran's abilities because she was secretive and kept them hidden from him. He should have been more prepared for this, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that Kyouran was behind the incidents in Gandara. Yusuke started to protest, but Kurama quickly pulled out a seed and grew a powerful plant that blocked all the exits. He knew it wouldn't stop them from following, but hoped it would give him enough time to find Kyouran first.

He found her walking towards the castle, limping, but with a determined look on her face. In the back of Kurama's mind he noted her limp, thinking it odd since he hadn't injured her in their previous scuffle.

"Kurama, where-" Kurama didn't give Kyouran time to finished her sentence as he launched straight into an attack with his rose whip. He needed to restrain her before the others got here, or else they would kill first ask questions later. "what the hell Kurama?" Kyouran shouted at him, just barely dodging his attacks.

"You attacked us, tell me why, Kyouran." Kurama said as he blocked Kyouran's counter attack. She pulled out a chain from inside the sleeve of her top, attempting to disarm Kurama's whip.

"I wasn't the one who did that, dumbass! That's what I was trying to tell you!" She snarled as her chain was broken by the thorns on the whip.

"I saw you Kyouran, there was no mistaking it. Just tell me why you did it!" Kurama tried reasoning with her, even though there was no explanation that could get her out of this one.

"You stupid fox, if you don't stop this right now I am going to paint the landscape with your blood!" Kyouran yelled in frustration, but stumbled as her leg was caught by the vines of a plant Kurama had manipulated from the nearby garden. She struggled but that only caused the plants to grip her leg tighter, and Kurama used the distraction to wrap his whip around her arm, making her hiss in pain. She turned her attention back to the redhead and her eyes narrowed, rage flaring in their depths. With a burst of power she ripped her leg free with a loud snap, grabbed the rose whip and pulled, right before she hurtled towards Kurama who had stumbled forward the tiniest bit. There was the sound of metal ripping flesh and the kitsune felt warm liquid splash onto the back of his neck.

Kurama whirled around to see Kyouran with a dagger lodged in her arm. It was one of the same daggers that she had used earlier to attack him with. She had blocked the blade, saving Kurama's life. She ripped the dagger out of her arm, throwing it back at the wielder. The demon jumped back and laughed. It took a moment for Kurama to make sense of what was going on because facing off were two Kyouran's. Kurama looked between them; exact same skin, same wild hair, misleading pinkish purple eyes; everything was the same except for what they were wearing.

"Kyouran! I thought you might be behind this mouthwatering temptation." The fake Kyouran said and licked her lips.

"I knew you would fall for it because you have no self control, Mayakashi." Kyouran sneered. The two then engaged in a fierce battle as Yusuke and the others came out to see what was happening.

"What the heck is going on?" Yusuke asked and Kurama turned to him.

"I'm not quite sure myself." Was all he could say before he noticed Yomi looking worried. Kurama pulled off the mask Kyouran had given him and turned his attention back to Kyouran and Mayakashi; it was like watching someone fight a mirror. Even though Kyouran was injured they were still evenly matched. _Was the demon able to mimic Kyourans appearance and abilities?_ He tried to puzzle out what was happening.

"You're not a very good babysitter, Yomi."

Everyone was startled and turned to look behind them at the owner of the new voice. It was a large male demon, with grayish golden eyes, and gray hair that shone blonde in the light. He loomed over everyone, being about a foot and a half to two feet taller than Yomi, and looked to be in his prime. Kurama tensed and prepared himself to do battle with this new threat but Yomi put a hand on his shoulder.

"Metsubou. I thought you might come," Yomi sighed. "Would you care to explain what exactly is happening?" he said while gesturing to the two female demons who had resorted to wrestling with each other on the ground like little kids and screaming at each other.

Metsubou gave a deep and mighty laugh then replied, "In a minute." As he walked over to the writhing mass of the two furious she-demons. He picked them both up by the back of their clothing, one in each hand and held them apart from each other. The kept reaching to grab the other, but Metsubou let out a roar and everything fell silent. "Honestly you two need to act your age! And you should know better than to attack each other!" he yelled at them as he set them down. Kyouran and Mayakashi hung their heads in shame. Metsubou looked between the two. "Now both of you apologize." He folded his arms across his chest.

The two she-demons looked at each other and mumbled an apology. Metsubou then dragged them over to where Kurama and the others were standing. "Mayakashi, apologize to Yomi for causing trouble and attacking him and his guests." Mayakashi sputtered and looked up at Metsubou angrily.

"But daddy that was my job! Someone hired me to do it! I shouldn't have to apologize for that!" she whined. Kyouran stuck her tongue out at her and smiled in triumph.

_Daddy?_ Kurama thought, looking between the three demons.

"Kyouran don't tease your sister and Mayakashi you still have to apologize." Metsubou growled, and suddenly all the pieces fell into place.

"You two are twins?" he asked Kyouran in astonishment. She looked at him and then glared at her sister.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you? This is my sister Mayakashi. And that's my dad." Metsubou smiled lovingly down at Kyouran and ruffled her hair but she swatted his hand away.

"No, you didn't mention this. You seemed a bit…preoccupied before you suddenly left." He said in a light tone. Kyouran laughed sheepishly.

"Whoops must have slipped my mind." She said sheepishly and then pointed at Mayakashi and said "Don't forget to apologize; you caused Yomi and I a lot of issues." Kurama chuckled slightly at the withering glare Mayakashi gave her before saying sorry even though she clearly did not mean it.

"Kyouran, I must apologize for thinking that you were the one behind the occurrences in Gandara, and thank you for helping us just now." Yomi said and gave her a pat on the shoulder. Kurama raised one perfect eyebrow at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Mayakashi's mist causes delusions, and since you were the only one with a mask the others were affected by it. Luckily for your friends my mist counteracts the effects of Mayakashi's, so they will be fine." She explained and then turned to her father who had Mayakashi in a headlock and was rubbing his knuckles harshly on her head. "By the way, dad, what are you doing here?" she asked. Metsubou let go of Kyouran's sister and walked over to Yomi, towering behind him and putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Yomi is an old pal of mine and owed me a favor, so when I overheard demons talking about taking revenge on you and your sister I called in that favor." He stopped and gave Kyouran a smile that a kid would give his mother when he didn't want to finish telling her he did something bad.

"And what exactly was that favor?" Mayakashi asked, now curious as this partially involved her.

"I asked him to babysit you so I could watch over Mayakashi!" everything was silent for a moment before Kyouran let out an ungodly screech of rage while launching herself full tilt at her father and Mayakashi fell into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"A BABYSITTER?" Kyouran's barrage of punches, kicks, and even claws were thwarted by her father who easily deflected them all.

"Now, now, Kyouran, I don't get to visit you often so let's not fight, ne?" Metsubou tried to calm his daughter, but Kyouran was so enraged and mortified by what he did that all she could think about was strangling him. Luckily for Metsubou, and unfortunately for Yomi, Yomi sighed at the sight, drawing Kyouran's attention to him. She froze in her assault, and set her sights on him.

"You…" a deep growl resonated in her chest and forgetting her dad for a moment decided her new prey would be the goat demon. "You agreed to this! You tricked me you asshole! The demon who sent me to kill you was a set up!" Kurama sighed and rubbed his temples; He could almost see why her dad had thought she needed someone to watch over her.

"Hmm, hopeless, isn't she?" Mayakashi said as she stood next to Kurama. He glanced at her, and studied the mirror image of Kyouran. Being this close to her now he noted minute differences between the two sisters. Mayakashi's aura seemed to be more sinister than her sisters, and her eyes seemed to project exactly the dark thoughts behind them, whereas Kyouran's hid her thoughts just as she liked to hide in her mist. "How about you and I take a walk? I'd love to see what makes such a delicious morsel…tick." Kurama gave her an icy stare out of the corner of his eye as she picked up a strand of his hair and let it slide between her fingers.

"I'm sorry, but there are important matters that need sorting out. Yusuke, Yomi, and I need to finish our meeting that got interrupted." Kurama said in a deceivingly measured tone. Mayakashi narrowed her eyes, but then she shrugged and walked over to her father. They talked for a moment and then Mayakashi disappeared. Kurama watched as Metsubou pulled Kyouran off of Yusuke who she had accidentally tackled when Yomi dodged her.

"I've taken care of everything, Kyouran, so you're free to do whatever you want now without having to worry about someone coming after your head." Metsubou again ruffled her hair making her grumble.

"I was never _not_ free to do what I want." She mumbled as her anger seemed to fizzle out finally. Her ears twitched as she sensed Mukuro and her little fire demon pet not far off, watching the exchange. Yomi, looking utterly peeved said a goodbye to Metsubou and then told Yusuke that he would participate in the tournament.

"Yomi, from now on I'm just plain Kurama, and will participate in the tournament as well." Kurama said, making it clear that he would no longer be serving under Yomi, who looked even more pissed off than before, but simply nodded and went back to his tower.

"Well Kurama it was nice seeing you again but I need to get back to Tourin. Nice meeting you, Kyouran, Metsubou. I'll see you at the tournament!" Yusuke gave his farewell and took off. Kurama turned to Kyouran and Metsubou.

"What will you be doing now, Kyouran?" he asked her as she stared off into the distance. Her eyes slowly turned to his, locking his green ones into their mysterious depths.

"I believe I am going to visit a friend of mine. I haven't seen her in ages and it would be nice to reconnect. I assume you will be training with your group of misfits?" she gestured to Jin, Touya, Chu, and the others who had hung back while everything was happening.

"Who ya callin' misfits, yeah?" The red haired wind tamer shouted at her. He was ignored as Kyouran kept eye contact with Kurama.

"That's right. I will be training with my friends." Kyouran smirked at him.

"Well until we meet again. Farewell, Foxy." Kyouran disappeared in a cloud of mist. Kurama also found that Metsubou had made a stealthy getaway and realized then that he knew entirely too little about Kyouran and her family, and decided that he would look into them if he had any spare time. But for now, he needed to focus on getting ready for the tournament.

* * *

Kyouran traveled for a few days towards the southern hemisphere of the Makai. There was a large canyon that had been carved out by a river thousands of years ago, and at the bottom of this canyon, hidden deep in a crevice was a box. The box was small, fitting into the palm of one's hand, and was carved out of white bone. The intricate carvings were extremely small, and depicted ghastly scenes of demons eviscerating one another. Kyouran picked up the box, held it close to her face and watched as the carvings moved. This special little box soon whispered to Kyouran, who whispered back. Only those who knew the right words were allowed to open the box; all others became part of the carvings. The carvings stopped moving and the box popped open, revealing a tiny bit of folded parchment. Once it was delicately unfolded it revealed an unmarked white surface. Kyouran bit her thumb, causing a small drop of blood to well up to the surface. She pressed her thumb to the paper, smearing the blood on it, which was promptly absorbed. After a few seconds words began to scrawl across the paper in messy handwriting.

They wail and moan, howl whisper and shriek yet no mouths do they have,

In their shadows play those who amuse kings

Kyouran rolled her eyes at the lame riddle but then wondered at its answer, _why would Isane be in the Forest of Fools?_ Isane constantly moved her location, and only those close to her could open the little boxes she had hidden in various places to find her whereabouts. She was very secretive, and didn't fancy staying in populated areas, so it was strange that she would be in that forest. Kyouran shrugged and put the little piece of paper, which had once again become blank, back into the little box and put the box back into its crevice. She then started her trek to the Forest of Fools, where she found Isane in disguise, milling about in one of the markets.

"This is an odd place for you, Isa-chan." Kyouran greeted the petite little otter demon. She had on a dark cloak that hid most of her physical features and was wearing panda mask that hid her face. She didn't say anything, but signaled Kyouran to follow her. She led Kyouran out of the busy market and into a secluded area. Looking around she waved her hands, erecting a barrier so that they wouldn't be bothered, then took off her cloak and mask.

"Kyo-Kyo-chan! My goodness it's been forever! You really should visit more often!" Isane smiled, showing sharp fangs behind her full, rose colored lips. Her eyes were a deep maroon and she had pale blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun. Markings that matched the color of her eyes decorated her skin, and her ears were small and pointed at the tips, one adorned with a dangling, jeweled earring. Although she looked adorable she had a nasty little habit of gutting or experimenting on those who ticked her off.

"I would, but you move so much and are a pain to find. Those damn little boxes are so far spread that it takes days to get to one, only to find out you are in the opposite direction!" Kyouran told her. She gave Isane a hug and continued, "But it is nice to see you doing so well. Tell me though, why _are_ you in the Forest of Fools? It is much too crowded for your hermit-like personality."

Laughing, Isane replied "There was a special black market deal happening in the shadows this week. Normally they don't have anything good because it's so risky in a place like this, but I heard a rumor that there was a perfectly preserved dragon's eye floating around, so I came to check it out. Good quality dragon eyes are hard to come by. Alas I feel someone else has snatched it before I could. It's the last ingredient I need for one of my new poisons." She sighed in defeat.

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that. If I come across a dragon anytime soon I will take its eyes just for you. You can use one for your poison and sell the other." Kyouran smiled at her friend's elated face.

"Oh Kyouran how thoughtful! Though I doubt you will happen upon a dragon, reclusive demons they are." She waved her hand to dismiss the topic. "What has prompted you to find me after all these years? You do not usually call upon me lightly."

"Mmm, I am stuck. And I was wondering if you could help me." Kyouran said slowly.

"One of the Kiri no Futago is stuck? Impossible, what could have you in such a predicament?" Isane asked with a disbelieving face.

"Ah that title brings back memories." Purple eyes closed in nostalgia. When they opened they looked lazily down into Isane's maroon orbs. "And to answer, my life. I find it's lacking excitement and am bored with it. I would like to ask for a push in the right direction."

The tiny otter demon cocked her head at the odd request. "Basically you want a fortune cookie, right?" she asked as a smiled weaseled its way onto her face.

Kyouran grimaced. "Heh, I guess you could look at it that way. What do you say?"

Isane thought for a moment. "If you do a small favor for me I will gladly help." Her tone was casual but there was a dark glint in her eyes.

"What is the favor?" Kyouran asked cautiously.

"Instead of waiting for a dragon to appear, find out for me if there really was a dragon's eye here, and if so, who has it." she giggled happily to herself, clapping her hands like a little kid. Kyouran smirked, figuring out her plan.

"I trust you will pay a visit to whoever has the eye? You know it's not nice to steal." She faked a parental tone.

"Ah, but it's not stealing. A dead demon has no use for material things." Isane looked positively wicked at that moment.

"You make a good point." Kyouran laughed. "I'll poke around for information. Where are you staying so that I can find you?" Isane was about to answer when Kyouran spoke again "and if you give me some lame riddle like the last one I'll give you the information you want in the same manner or maybe not at all." She growled lightly. Isane chuckled and gave her the location she would be at in simple terms.

After taking information from several demons and snooping around Kyouran finally located the demon who had the dragon eye. It was a gangly looking toad demon with warts covering the majority of his slimy green skin. Kyouran returned to Isane with this information.

"Oh thank you soooo much Kyo-Kyo-chan! Now I can finish my poison! Here you go, the fortune cookie you wanted. Eat the whole thing then kiss the paper and presto! You have yourself a fortune. Now if you will excuse me, I have a grave to rob." Isane said and disappeared after handing Kyouran a fortune cookie.

Kyouran nibbled on the cookie, taking her time eating it and enjoying its taste. Once she was finished she pressed the little piece of white paper to her lips and waited. After a few seconds, just like with the parchment that was in the bone box, words slowly appeared.

In the eyes of the green forest lie golden coins

In the red flames of hell lies a silver waterfall

Treasures of the past that are both buried in the future

Their guardian you must seek

To find where x marks the spot you must play a game

The words engraved themselves in Kyouran's brain as the little piece of paper caught fire and turned to ash in her fingers. _A fool I was to think that anything divined from Isane would be in something other than riddles!_ She cursed inside her head, trying to decipher its meaning. _I have to find out where the treasure is, so that I can find the one who guards them, and to do that I need to play a game._ Snarling under her breath Kyouran rubbed her temples in frustration. The first thing she had to figure out was what game she needed to play. There were many games she could play, so it must be one that would stand apart from the rest. _Maybe…could it be?_ Game was also another way of saying contest, and the one contest that would stand out from the rest was…

Kyouran sighed.

"Looks like I'm joining the Demon Realm Tournament."


End file.
